STUTTERING TO A FINISH
It’s not all that visible in the standings, but the Saint John Sea Dogs are in a bit of a rut with nine games left in their 2009-10 QMJHL season.
It’s been a tremendous season that has seen the Sea Dogs sit in first place for almost the entire campaign. But now, they are faced with a bit of adversity.
Saint John is 8-2 in their last 10 games but are 3-2 in their last five games. Much of their hardships of late have come from a lack of effort that can be assumed when you have a big lead in the overall standings.
That was obvious when head coach Gerard Gallant had the number one team in the country bag skating after an ugly performance on Saturday against Shawinigan.
Their last five games have also featured something not seen in Saint John this season. Goals were hard to come by this past weekend and they were outscored a combined 5-4 against the Cataractes and Rimouski. Their only win was in overtime on Sunday.
Saint John has scored the most goals of any team this year with 269, but have the league’s sixth ranked power play. Their power play woes have decreased in the second half but struggled this past weekend with difficulty to gain the zone.
READY FOR THE FIRST ROUNDThe Cape Breton Screaming Eagles have managed to brush off a surprising surge from the PEI Rocket and now have a six-point cushion for third in the Atlantic. That means Moncton will draw the Eagles in round one while the Rocket will head to Saint John – assuming all four teams stay on current pace.
PEI has given Saint John all they can handle this year and are 2-4-0-0 against the Dogs with two games remaining between the two. The next match is on March 3 in Saint John.
PEI’s two wins against Saint John means that 1/5 of the Sea Dogs' loses have been against the Rocket. They have fought, scored, shutout, and even broke Mike Hoffman’s foot in the six games against the Dogs.
The two teams met in the opening round of the 2008 playoffs with Saint John winning easily four games to none.
LAST THREE GAMER BEGINS TOMORROWThe Sea Dogs head to the Quebec-Ontario border tomorrow night to play the Gatineau Olympiques at 8:30 pm. Saint John has outscored Gatineau 10-0 in two games this year.
After that game, it’s off to northern Quebec where they play Val-d’Or on Friday and Rouyn-Noranda on Saturday. Saint John has yet to lose to either team this year and have caught a break with Marco Scandella and Patrice Cormier both suspended.
It will be the Sea Dogs’ last three game road trip of the year through Quebec. Against Quebec based teams (including Lewiston) on the road, Saint John is 8-2-1-0.
GAME OF THE WEEKRogers Sportsnet has named Saturday’s game in Rouyn-Noranda the QMJHL game of the week.
“The league's top team, the Sea Dogs, will make the long trip north to Rouyn-Noranda,” wrote Patrick King. “The Huskies learned on Friday the league denied their appeal and would be without suspended forward Patrice Cormier for the rest of the season and playoffs. Rouyn-Noranda is still a dangerous team without Cormier, and will have its best test in measuring themselves against the Sea Dogs. Saint John is winners of eight of their last 10 games and in the driver's seat to acquire home ice through the playoffs.”
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HERE. HOME ICE IS AWESOMEYeah, home ice will give the Sea Dogs a leg up in the playoffs when it comes to playing the tougher teams. But lets forget the team for a moment and think about the fans.
If the schedule holds true to what it has been in the past, Harbour Station will host game one and game two on Friday and Saturdy night. If long distance travel rules don’t apply, they will host game five on a Friday or Saturday as well.
With three home games left, Saint John is averaging 3,952 fans per game. In 2008 the Sea Dogs averaged 5,618 fans per game in the playoffs and had two sell-outs.
We don’t like to talk about last year’s playoff attendance. They averaged an awful 2,843 fans in two games against Cape Breton.
